EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK News

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On 18 July 2017, around 50 local campaigners joined the webinar “Small municipalities doing big things during EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK”. The webinar focussed on how smaller municipalities can organise successful activities during EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK.

Small municipalities ranging in size from 3,000 to roughly 70,000 inhabitants from across Europe presented the activities they organised during the 2016 campaign. Presentations came from Bissen (Luxembourg), Farkadona (Greece), Gioia del Colle (Italy), Katrineholm (Sweden), Kozani (Greece), Labin (Croatia), Pančevo (Serbia) and Xanthi (Greece). Some had participated in EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK in 2016 for the first time, while others have longer experience with the campaign.

From a bus-stop book booth to pop-up parks, car-free days to “Intelligent bus stops”, each city had innovative and unique ideas for promoting sustainable mobility in their communities. A common goal was to engage citizens in the process, which – according to the organisers – leads to the best outcome. Labin used a social media photo competition to raise awareness among citizens, while Xanthi launched a comprehensive communication plan with radio, television and newspaper coverage.

Listening to the enthusiastic organisers, one thing became clear: it doesn’t take a lot of money to organise a great sustainable mobility activity. Through dedicated local organisers and strong local partnerships, it’s possible to re-imagine how transportation works in our communities. It’s not just about large cities with vast public transport fleets – small municipalities have a pivotal role to play.

In 2017, for the first time, small municipalities will have their own award category for the EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK Award. This means that two awards will be given out: one for municipalities with less than 50,000 inhabitants and one for municipalities with 50,000 inhabitants or more. The application period will open on 22 September 2017, the final day of EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK 2017.

The webinar also included a short presentation on the Thematic Guidelines for the 2017 theme – “Clean, shared and intelligent mobility”. Looking towards the upcoming edition of EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK, more than a few ideas for linking this year’s theme to local activities were exchanged.

European Commission launches financial incentive for green cities

15 June 2017

The European Commission has launched the competition for the 2020 European Green Capital and 2019 European Green Leaf Awards. With more than two thirds of Europeans now living in towns and cities, finding innovative and better environmentally sustainable solutions is necessary to manage and improve how we live, travel, and work. European Green Capitals and Green Leafs provide inspiration and motivation to help other cities find solutions, on both a European and a global stage.

To celebrate the 10th year of the European Green Capital competition and to encourage more cities to apply, the European Commission will award a financial incentive of €350,000 to the winning city of the 2020 European Green Capital title (cities with more than 100,000 inhabitants) and €75,000 to the winner of the European Green Leaf 2019 title (smaller cities with more than 20,000 inhabitants).

To help cities get started, the European Commission has organised a dedicated Applicant Workshop to be held on 27 June 2017 in Brussels (Belgium). The day will provide an overview of the competition process, include tips on how to complete the application, and will provide an opportunity to meet cities that have gone through the application process before. To register, contact applicantworkshop@europeangreencapital.eu

Both the European Green Capital and European Green Leaf Awards are open to cities in EU Member States, EU Candidate Countries, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland. The deadline for applications for both competitions is 18 October 2017.

Greek municipalities prepared for EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK 2017

6 June 2017

On 30 May, more than 100 representatives from towns and cities in Greece got together to get inspiration and prepare the organisation of EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK, which takes place from 16 to 22 September.

The aim of the gathering was to establish a real network of local campaigners to exchange experience and know-how. Participation in EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK has increased remarkably in Greece over the past years, growing from 8 municipalities in 2013 to 86 municipalities in 2016.

The Greek Minister for Environment and Energy, Socrates Famelos, kicked off the day with a speech highlighting the role of cities that first invested in the development of Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans. The Greek Government recently launched a fund to support sustainable urban mobility projects in municipalities with more than 25,000 inhabitants.

The European Secretariat was represented by Juan Caballero, who gave some tips and tricks to Greek municipalities on how to prepare their campaign and apply for the EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK Award. Greek National Coordinators Vasilis Tikos and Kaliopi Papadaki then presented the user-friendly registration system to local campaigners. They also reaffirmed their commitment in supporting Greek municipalities to prepare for EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK.

The urban transport roadmaps tool, developed for DG Move, European Commission, by Ricardo Energy & Environment and Trasporti e Territorio, is a web-based tool to help city authorities develop urban transport roadmaps that address the most pressing environmental, social and economic issues faced by their transportation systems between now and 2030.

The tool provides cities with the ability to identify, develop, screen and assess different transport policies and measures. In particular, it helps cities to quickly and easily assess the likely costs and impacts of measures that could help them improve the sustainability of their transport systems. Cities can explore combinations of different policy scenarios and assess the impacts of these scenarios on the environment, safety, mobility, the economy and the city’s transport system. This type of scenario analysis helps cities to rapidly identify which policy measures are likely to be useful in supporting their own urban transport sustainability goals.

A key benefit of the tool is that users do not need any prior experience in transport modelling. The tool is user-friendly, and has a simple and intuitive graphical user interface.

What activities did Malmö undertake to help it win the EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK Award?

There are several activities that I think contributed to our success, but if I have to highlight some of them I would say that the temporary reformation of a street, the opportunity for citizens and visitors to discuss mobility issues with officials, and our whole-day conference were three activities that turned out well.

For the whole week we devoted a street in the centre of Malmö to EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK, focusing on the number of pedestrians and cyclists, and reforming the street into a welcoming space for all people. That became a great activity and left a strong impression that people in the city still talk about.

During the week officials from our Streets and Parks Department were present on the street, and visitors got the opportunity to discuss Malmö’s mobility issues with them.

We also held a whole-day conference on the theme of the year. Invited speakers from different fields talked about the issues from their perspective. Local politicians debated the theme and the information presented. At the end the audience had the opportunity to discuss in smaller groups.

What does winning the EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK Award mean to the city?

The award is a recognition that we are doing good work when it comes to sustainable mobility. I also think that the award makes the citizens of Malmö proud of their city. Of course, for those involved in the project it is really a fantastic response. As the success of the project increases, the demand also grows to make more efforts for active travel.

What are the benefits of taking part in EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK from a city perspective?

We have ambitious goals for our future traffic system, as clearly stated in our Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan (SUMP). To accelerate towards our goals, we must first create a greater demand for sustainable mobility. This requires working across all levels in the city. Citizens of Malmö, property owners, shopkeepers and other stakeholders have a key role to play in this development. EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK is particularly important in this process. It creates commitment and demands in a way that can facilitate the work to reach the city’s goals.

What advice would you give to cities that are looking to follow in your footsteps and take home the EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK Award?

- Try to combine the event with a city development project.
- Involve the city inhabitants, property owners, business owners and other stakeholders which are most affected by the event and the development project.
- Concentrate the event to a specific location in the city, link all activities to the theme, present the permanent measures under the week, and rather focus on fewer but clearer activities. Also try to have activities every day.
- Evaluate the project. We allowed external actors to do a visitor survey during the week as well as a project evaluation of the entire work process before, during and after the project.

Commission launches competition for young transport innovators

7 April 2017

The European Commission has launched the European Transport Innovation Challenge 2017, a new award offered to young transport innovators for creative solutions for goods and services that will contribute to reducing CO2 emissions in transport.

The solutions can be the result of research, can be in any transport mode, and in many different sectors linked to transport, such as solutions in healthcare, retail or food sectors. The key word is innovation.

The prize will be an all-expenses trip for 12 young innovators aged 18-35 to Strasbourg (France) for the ITS Congress and Exhibition in June 2017.

In addition to receiving free travel and accommodation, and having the opportunity to network with leaders in the world of intelligent transport in Europe, the winners will receive personalised coaching at a dedicated mentoring workshop before the Congress begins.

Applications can come from a person, a team, a company (providing it is an SME) or any other type of legal entity anywhere in the European Union a country associated with the Horizon 2020 programme.

Both individuals (including those working for administrations and transport providers) and SMEs are eligible.

Entrants should describe in less than 1,500 words how mobility in Europe could be cleaner and more efficient. The deadline for applications is 2 May.

Brussels and Malmö take home mobility awards

20 March 2017

In an awards ceremony hosted last night at the Théâtre de Vaudeville in the heart of the Belgian capital, Malmö (Sweden) and Brussels (Belgium) were recognised for their outstanding work in advancing sustainable urban mobility. Malmö was awarded the EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK Award for its long-term focus on active transport modes such as cycling and walking. The 5th Award for Sustainable Urban Mobility Planning was given to Brussels (Belgium) for its successful freight strategy.

The awards were presented by Violeta Bulc, European Commissioner for Transport, and Daniel Calleja, Director-General for Environment.

"I'm inviting cities to come on-board and work with us, to help Europe meet its ambitious climate objectives. I would like to congratulate this year's finalists who showed that greener and smarter urban mobility is already possible. I was particularly impressed by the long-term strategies developed by Malmö to encourage active travel and by Brussels on sustainable freight. I hope they can inspire many others," said Commissioner Bulc.

"We have great candidates and great role models for sustainable mobility at this award ceremony," said Director-General Calleja. "Shifting towards sustainable and shared modes of mobility is at the centre of great opportunities, particularly for improving quality of life and growing our economy sustainably."

The ceremony followed the first day of the EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK Workshops, which kick off the preparations for the 2017 edition of the campaign under the theme of clean, shared and intelligent mobility, as encapsulated by the slogan “Sharing gets you further”.

Call for urban mobility change-maker cities

2 March 2017

The Urban Electric Mobility Initiative (UEMI) and the urban mobility SOLUTIONS Network are calling for cities from Europe, Asia, Africa and Latin America to become involved as leading city, take-up city or training participants.

The SOLUTIONS Network and UEMI are looking for take-up cities to work together on the implementation of sustainable urban mobility measures. As part of urban implementation actions the team now works with cities to assess the opportunities for e-mobility concepts in their wider sustainable transport strategy.

The mission of the SOLUTIONS and UEMI partnerships is therefore to support the take-up of innovative sustainable urban mobility solutions in cities across the world and foster the integration of urban electric mobility solutions into sustainable transport concepts. This activity is part of the EU-funded project FUTURE-RADAR. All activities within the context of the initiative will take place between May 2017 and May 2020.

The call is open until 30 April 2017. For more details on the process and the application form, visit the UEMI website.

U-MOB LIFE – the European University Network for Sustainable Mobility

23 February 2017

Universities are the engines of innovation and knowledge in Europe. As centres of learning, exchange and ideas, they can help drive the world towards a better, more sustainable future. The U-MOB LIFE project is harnessing the power of European universities to support the development of sustainable mobility in Europe.

Universities are also major commuting poles in many European cities. By improving the mobility patterns of universities, the transportation system of an entire city can benefit. To this end, the U-MOB LIFE project partners (including four universities in Rotterdam, Krakow, Bergamo and Barcelona) will gather best practices from universities across Europe. In addition to making university campuses more sustainable, there is a great potential to influence the travel habits and tendencies of students, which can have a big impact on the mobility practices of future generations.

European Commission reveals sustainable mobility city champions

22 February 2017

The European Commission has revealed the finalists of the EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK Award 2016 and 5th Sustainable Urban Mobility Planning (SUMP) Award on urban freight. The winners of the two awards will be announced by Violeta Bulc, European Commissioner for Transport and by Daniel Calleja, Director General of DG Environment during an award ceremony to be held in Brussels on 20 March 2017.
The EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK Award

The finalists are Lisbon (Portugal), Malmö (Sweden) and Skopje (former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia). Lisbon scored well for making its public space available to pedestrians, while Malmö’s main focus was on bicycles as a sustainable means of transport. The jury also pointed out the car-pooling service in Skopje helping its residents save money and protect the environment.

Shortlisted candidates display a long-term vision with strong communication and public involvement. They have an integrated approach and strategy for rewarding sustainable transport behaviour by the general public. The EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK Award aims to showcase local authorities that demonstrate significant efforts in promoting sustainable urban mobility. The 15th edition of EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK took place from 16 to 22 September 2016 and a total of 2,427 towns and cities – the highest participation rate ever – organised activities in line with the campaign's annual theme: ‘Smart and sustainable mobility – an investment for Europe’ under the call-to-action ‘Smart mobility. Strong economy.’

An independent panel of mobility and transport experts has shortlisted 10 candidates and selected 3 finalists out of a total of 63 applications from 23 different countries.

The Sustainable Urban Mobility Planning Award

The Sustainable Urban Mobility Planning Award (SUMP) aims to reward local authorities that have succeeded in developing a mobility plan addressing the diverse transport needs of people and businesses and, at the same time, improving quality of life. The 5th SUMP Award on urban freight focuses on integrating the movements of goods and services in sustainable urban mobility planning.

The jury appointed three cities as finalists of the 5th SUMP Award on urban freight. These cities captured the attention of the jury: Brussels (Belgium) impressed the jury with its innovative logistics schemes; Budapest (Hungary) stood out for successfully integrating freight transport within the overall mobility strategy; and Stockholm (Sweden) was appreciated for its strategy stimulating the local economy while limiting the adverse impact of urban freight. The jury also acknowledged high quality applications from Berlin (Germany), Naples (Italy), Piatra Neamt (Romania) and Rotterdam (the Netherlands).

Last year, Murcia (Spain) received the EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK Award for its success in terms of multimodality and intermodality of transport. Malmö (Sweden) won the 4th SUMP Award for its efforts in terms of multimodality and intermodality in sustainable urban mobility planning. Promotional videos of the two winners are available below.